


Reality and What Could Be

by hope170



Category: Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts (Cartoon)
Genre: Adoption, And it changes everything, Father/Daughter Relationship, Gen, I just want him to be happy, I've never written Scarlemagne before, Probably ooc, Wish me luck, in which scarlemagne finds a baby
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-29
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:02:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24973522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hope170/pseuds/hope170
Summary: Scarlemagne had plans, amazing plans of a grand city, an empire, with him in charge and humanity his slaves. But reality doesn't always match up to ones plans and when he picks up the creature he has to tweak a thing or two. No matter. He would still have his grand empire one way or another.
Comments: 19
Kudos: 121





	1. The Creature

The surface was not a friendly place, any mute could tell you that. There were dangers around each corner, giant monsters that could eat you or step on you without even thinking twice about it, crumbling ruins of a once great city, or even other mutes who wouldn’t hesitate to eat you or otherwise screw you over for their own gain.

But then, nearly a decade ago, things started to shift. Scarlemagne appeared, a mute with a grand vision for the way things could be and the willingness to do anything it took to see his vision come to fruition. He was to be a king, and a king needed his subjects. First, it was the small group of apes and monkeys that called his new palace home, then the humming bombers, newton wolves, scooter skunks, mob frogs. Some saw his vision or his power and joined him willingly, others had to be given a little nudge, but eventually any mute would come under his rule. And with Scarlemagnes reign came a sense of peace, whether intended or not. All mutes, no matter how different, were apart of the same kingdom and infighting was not deemed acceptable.

Over eight years he had amassed quite the kingdom for himself and things were running quite smoothly, despite the odd hiccup here and there. He had even gotten himself some servants, humans that had been caught on the surface, who would do whatever he commanded. It was only natural. The only place for humans in his kingdom was as servants and slaves, beneath the heals of mute kind like the dirt they were. 

But he wasn’t finished yet. His kingdom still had plenty of room to grow. There were still other groups of mutes to add to his kingdom, the more stubborn ones, and he needed to acquire more humans, an army, to take care of them. He had flamingo riders out looking for them, though they didn’t need to be sent out nearly as often thanks to the wolves’ telescope. It certainly saved him quite a bit of time, time he was more than happy to spend at his piano, reading a good book, or on much-needed walks. It did him some good, he thought, to get away from all that for just a bit and empty his mind of all the responsibilities that came with ruling such a magnificent kingdom as his.

Unfortunately, his walks would not remain peaceful for long. No, that was not quite what his day held for him. His walk drew him further than usual from his palace, far enough that the trees grew thicker and he could see nothing but the wilderness broken by the crumbling remains of some human thing here and there. He had been more than happy to continue, letting the peace of the wilderness take his worries away until he could let all the tension in his shoulders and feel truly calm. It was then that his walk was interrupted by a sound, faint at first but steadily getting louder as he walked, a high pitched and very irritating sound that very much did not belong. 

Scarlemange’s face scrunched up at the ugly sound, a scowl twisting at his lips. What creature even made that sort of noise? He found himself searching for the creature without really thinking about it properly. At the very least if he found the creature he could make that dreadful sound stop, one way or another. And really, it didn’t take that long to locate. It wasn’t even hidden, just laying in the middle of a small clearing where any mute could get to it and kill it, eat it, squash it. His face turned stoney when he caught sight of it.

It was a human baby, he was sure of it even if he had only seen a human infant once. It clearly wasn’t any sort of mute, it couldn't very well be anything else. It seemed weak. Its cry wasn't truly all that loud, hardly a proper babies cry, and it hardly even moved save for the occassional wave of a tiny fist. 

Scarlemagne glanced around his surroundings. There was clearly no other humans in the area, nor mute for that matter. There wasn't a sound, no footsteps, no snapping of a twig, to give any creatures location away if they were there. So what was it doing here? Had it been abandoned? Were it's parents dead? No, if they were the baby would at least be covered by a blanket of some sort or appeared at least slightly cared for. No matter. This didn’t concern him. It would die off soon enough anyways. He turned to leave and return to his palace.

But he stopped. All he could hear was the pitiful creature’s tiny cries, desperate for help, for comfort, anything. He wanted to walk away, he told himself. The baby did not concern him. It was none of his business. He sighed and turned around instead, kneeling next to it. He was met with big dark brown eyes, tiny fists reaching for him weakly, pleading. Again, he told himself to leave. He shrugged off his coat, doing his best to wrap the baby up in it. It attempted to put up a fight against the strange new cloth but that had little affect and it quickly calmed. Once he was satisfied, or willing to admit that it was the best he could do, he picked the baby up, resting it in one arm. Almost immediately the crying stopped, a fist grasping at his shirt. It looked up at him for only a moment before closing its eyes and falling asleep, no doubt terribly exhausted. 

The woods were silent again. 

He stared down at it, taking in the poor thing. It looked filthy, dirt covering the dark skin like bruises and matting the black hair. Looking at it, he felt the oddest sensation, a swelling in his chest he was not at all familiar with. Or perhaps he had been, a long time ago, but had forgotten the sensation. They would need to get washed, he decided. And fed. They were most likely starving. He hummed to himself as he thought, making his way home with the baby cradled in his arms.


	2. But Why?

The most important thing, Scarlemagne decided, was to make sure she was fed. His human servants, of course, were more than happy to tell him just how to care for an infant. All he had to do was ask and they but jumped to tell him everything he needed to know, including what exactly they ate. The baby needed milk. But, of course, they didn't have any, so he would have to go find a proper replacement, something the humans called formula, and he would need to get it quickly. Who knew how long she had been left out there with no food. He sent a few flamingo riders out searching for everything he would need with specific instructions to return the moment they found any formula.

Until they returned, he had plenty of other things to do.

He went to his office, a room he rarely used. He much preferred sitting at the piano and playing the day away to sitting at his desk amongst shelves of books where no one could marvel at him and his prowess. Still, the space did come in handy in moments like this, when all he needed was some privacy. 

It had been a couple of years since he had needed to roll his sleeves up, had needed to any sort of dirty work, really. The thought made him smirk. He only had a small towel and a bowl of water but, then, the baby looked far too small to clean any other way. Ever so gently, he got to work scrubbing the dirt off her skin. The baby scrunched up her face when she felt the cloth, letting out the littlest of squeaks. He chuckled at the sound.

“Not something your use to, tiny one? That’s too bad. You can’t very well stay filthy can you?” She cooed at him, making him chuckle again. “That’s right, you don’t really have much of a choice here, do you? Now just hold still.”

She still scrunched up her face but he kept going, humming comfortingly every time she protested. Eventually, her complaints quieted and her squirming stopped. It took a bit, but he got her clean enough. The water was a disgusting shade of grey by the time he was done. He scrunched his nose at it and made one of the servants take it away. He wrapped the baby up in a new, clean blanket and leaned back in the chair, the baby settling in his arms and yawning wide before nuzzling into his side. That must have been exhausting for her, especially since she was still so weak. He sighed.

Now what was he supposed to do?

He stared down at the human infant, thinking. Why did he even pick the thing up? Humans weren’t worth anything, he was shown that well enough time and time again when he was younger. He supposed he could just leave her with his servants. She would grow up being taught her place and would be kept out of his hair. 

… No. No, he couldn’t do that. It wasn’t right, somehow. He growled in frustration, quietly as to not startle her. What on earth was he supposed to do with this thing? 

He thought it over a while longer but he felt stuck. His thoughts brought him back to the same place every time. Humans were worthless trash. But he picked this one up anyway. Why? He thought hard about it. Why would he even consider caring for this thing?

His thoughts were interrupted before he could come to a conclusion by the door slamming open. He glared at the creature that dared approach, only to brighten the moment he saw it was one of his riders.

“Ah! You found it!” He bellowed, bouncing off his chair and snatching the container from the Orangutan’s hand. He read over the faded lettering, humming to himself. “Yes, this’ll do brilliantly! Did you find any more?” His glare was demanding now, looking the ape up and down. He offered the bag he held which was snatched just as quickly as the container. It had a few more containers and some bottles. Perfect!

“Uh, can I ask why? Like, are you keeping that thing?”

Scarlemagne didn’t even bother glancing at him again. He had what he wanted. But he did pause long enough to look down at the baby that still slept in his arm, brows furrowed in thought. The silence stretched out long and empty in the room and the ape fidgeted nervously. Perhaps he shouldn’t have said anything. As odd as the whole thing was, it wasn’t his place to question Scarlemagne. Oh, he’d messed up, hadn’t he? He nearly jumped when the silence was finally broken.

“Yes.” was all he said. The ape wasn’t going to stay to see if he’d say anything else. He all but fled the room. 

Scarlemagne had a servant fetch some more water and went about making a bottle for the baby. The instructions were dreadfully faded and difficult to make out but he thought he managed well enough. It was just a matter of mixing the powder with water. It took a bit to wake her up but she was more than eager enough to eat once he had managed to get the bottle in her mouth. It was almost alarming but then again she had to be starving. 

And there was that odd feeling in his chest again, the swelling he couldn’t quite explain. He found that he didn’t really mind it all that much. He hardly even noticed the smile on his face. 

That smile fell moments later when the realization hit him. He knew exactly why he picked her up. Seeing her there, left alone in the dangerous woods, abandoned, someone so small and helpless in a world so big. He knew exactly how that felt and it hurt so much to think even for a moment that someone else would have to go through such pain. 

The realization only served to strengthen his confidence in his choice. He was not about to abandon her again. He was better than that, better than some cruel human. 

He held her a little closer.


	3. Rumors and a Name

Everyone was talking about it. How could they not? It was an odd sight to say the least, completely out of place. Sure, there were humans around. Not too terribly many, but they were there, all dressed up and wearing their masks. But no one had ever seen a human baby before. So, word traveled fast that there was one in the palace and the news was met with an array of responses. 

There were plenty who didn’t care. They had their jobs to do and it didn’t affect them one bit whether or not some baby was in the palace. There were those who were disgusted with the very idea. Humans were already so pitiful, can you imagine what a human infant was like? They were the ones who hoped never to have to look at the thing. Humans were far too disgusting. They believed ti shouldn't be anywhere near this so called perfect empire, let alone in the palace! But then there were plenty who were curious. What was a human baby even like? Why was it there? What did that mean for them? They wanted to know more, to even see it. 

However they reacted, they were all rather confused. Scarlemagne hated humans just as much as any mute, maybe even more so, they all knew that. So why was it even here? What did Scarlemagne want with it? Was it some new odd interest of his? Some kind of pet? It seemed like an awful lot of work for just some passing interest but it wouldn't really be that surprising. He was a rather ... eccentric mandrill.

Of course, Scarlemagne heard it all. He knew everything that happened. It was his palace, after all. But he didn’t really care what they thought. They were his subjects, after all. They didn’t have a choice. He would do what he wanted, no matter how selfish or bizarre or out of place, and they would just smile and nod and behave themselves. Because he was Scarlemagne! He would accept nothing less.

The baby cried, a small whimper of distress.

He turned away from his mirror and to the bed, where the baby laid swaddled in her soft blankets. He took the few steps he needed to cross the room, scooping the baby up into his arms and smiling down at her. She quieted the moment he picked her up, looking at his face with raptured attention.

“Well, look who woke up!” He said, giggling a little to himself. “Are you ready for your grand debut, my dear? Your adoring public awaits!” 

The baby gurgled at him.

“Hm, or perhaps you don’t care. After all, you are an infant.”

She looked up at him blankly and stuck her fist in her mouth. 

“No matter! Let’s head off.”

\--------------------------

All the various monkeys and apes under Scarlemagne had been gathered in the hall, a scattering of a few other mutes here and there, all bunched up and waiting. There were a few that were slightly confused as to why they were there, but whatever mild confusion the group held was quickly fixed. It had to have something to do with that human baby everyone was talking about. There was nothing else it could be, at least nothing else they could think of. While they murmured and gossiped amongst each other the humans stood lined up on the edges of the hall, standing diligently, staring ahead at nothing. 

In an instant, all the chatter in the hall stopped. The only sound was the clicking of heels on the tiled floor as Scarlemagne walked in, head held high and proud like always, the human baby cradled in the nook of one of his arms. It was an odd sight but not an unexpected one, so no one made a noise. He would certainly be angry if they did and none of them were willing to bring that anger upon themselves.

“Ah, you’re all here! Excellent. I expect I won’t have to repeat myself and constantly suffer through your questions.” He stopped in front of his piano, staring the crowd down with a rather pleased looking expression on his face. “I’m sure there have been a few rumors going around. As you can see, it’s true! I have found a human infant.”

She grumbled as she was lifted high so that everyone gathered could see. There were a few gasps and mumbles, but they quickly faded back to silence. She was quickly settled back into the nook of his arm, her protests quieting immediately as she snuggled closer to him. Those with the sharpest eyes were able to catch the small smile that graced there ruler's face for a split second before he managed to school his expression back to his usual smugness. 

“I’ve decided to keep her. Which makes her your princess. I expect you to treat her as such. Anything less will be punished appropriately.” He looked back down at the baby. It was then that he realized he needed a proper name for her. Something fitting royalty. He hummed a little as he thought it over. And still she stared at him with her big eyes. 

“Raina.” He tried the name out, feeling the weight of it on his tongue. Yes, that felt right. “Her name will be Raina.” He declared. “And I will raise her to be better than any human. She will be raised to be a proper mute, one of us. Perfect.” That soft smile returned as he ever so gently rubbed her cheek. She made a squeaking sound, grabbing his finger in her tiny fist. 

“She’s going to grow up to be someone truly spectacular!”


	4. The Start of Change

Scarlemagne huffed, an irritated frown on his face. He played a few notes, slow and experimental, but they didn’t sound quite right. Nothing did. He huffed again. 

It wasn’t usually this hard for him to write his songs. More often than not he could just run off with a melody, play whatever felt right, and the piano would sing for him. But lately, nothing had felt right. The notes sounded sour and wrong, like biting into an apple only to find it rotten in the middle. It simply wasn’t happening today. He was far too distracted.

Something had been weighing on him lately. He couldn’t quite place it. It was an odd weight in the pit of his stomach, a heaviness in his chest. Something was wrong, clearly, but whatever it was couldn't be too terribly important. How could it be if he couldn’t tell what exactly was bothering him in the first place? If it was truly a problem then he would at least be able to pinpoint the issue and solve it, just like that! He was incredibly intelligent, after all. It really shouldn’t be an issue.

Scarlemagne slammed on the keys in frustration. It shouldn’t be an issue, and yet here he was, feeling like a stone was stuck in his chest. He sighed. Perhaps he should just move on to something else and come back to this later. Yes, a change of scene should help. 

He brightened almost immediately at the idea, humming to himself as he got up and started walking through the palace. The mid-afternoon light filtered through the patches of leaves that covered a few holes in the ceiling, leaving dapples of sunlight across the floor and walls. Those spots of sun gradually lessened as he went until they vanished completely as the roof here was in much better shape. Yes, the previous area had looked quite lovely, but it wasn’t very practical for living or sleeping. It was quite miserable there when it rained. 

He turned down a hallway and finally stopped in front of a door, plain and unassuming. He opened it as quietly as he could, entering the room beyond. This room was astonishingly different from the rest of the building. It was the least run down to start with. There had been a hole or two in the walls, but those were patched up properly and they were painted a nice shade of pale blue. There was a nice, large rug on the floor in similar shades of blue taking up almost the whole room. There were a decent bit of shelves lining the walls, filled with childish odds and ends like children’s books, toys, and various stuffed animals. A few of those toys were scattered across the floor, abandoned for now. In the corner was a crib, a sturdy wooden structure, with a gossamer canopy hanging over it from the ceiling. It was a room befitting a young princess. 

He went to the crib, looking into it with a soft smile on his face, one that had grown even more common. Raina was still sleeping, clutching at a stuffed rabbit, her hair a mess around her head. For just a moment, Scarlemagne watched her sleep. He had found her in the woods a little over a year ago and he was amazed by just how much she had grown. She was so much bigger now, stronger, and so incredibly energetic. She was even walking now all by herself! He felt that swelling in his chest again, a feeling he was starting to get pretty familiar with though he still didn’t have a name for it. Or maybe he just didn’t want to name it. It wasn’t something he thought about all that much.

“Wakey wakey, darling!” He said, rubbing a finger over her cheek. Her face scrunched up at the touch, hands rubbing at her face. She looked up at him for a second, confused, before smiling real big.

“Dada!” She chirped happily, sitting up and bouncing slightly. He chuckled, picking her up and doing a little spin that left the baby a giggling mess. 

“Did you nap well?” She babbled at him in response. “What are we going to play know, hm?” 

He put her down and watched as she waddled over to a pile of blocks, where she promptly sat down and got to work stacking them. 

Scarlemagne watched her play for a bit, stacking her blocks and babbling to her stuffed animals as they knocked her towers over. She laughed almost ever time and he would chuckle with her. Her laugh was simply too contagious, so pure and joyful. Occasionally she would waddle up to him and make him hold something for whatever reason her toddler mind came up with and he would dutifully do so until she came back for it. All the while he was smiling. 

But that smile didn’t last, slowly fading as a frown took its place. That was odd. That feeling from before had returned, from when he was playing the piano. He tried to ignore it but the longer he sat there the worse it got. 

“Dada!” Raina called to him, handing him one of her stuffed bears. It was only then, with the girl looking up at him with her big brown eyes and big smile did he realize he felt worried. He took the bear, mind realing. 

He was worried, so desperately worried for her. For a moment, he imagined what Raina’s life would be like if she was alone. He imagined her growing up on the surface, a world where everyone would hate her just because she was human. They wouldn’t care that she was raised by mutes, wouldn’t care that she was better than all the others. She was still human filth to them. 

And what about when he was no longer around to protect her? What then? No one would take her seriously. She would be thrown out, perhaps even killed or enslaved like the other humans. Did he really want that? He really cared for her, more than he imagined he could when he first picked her up. He decided that something needed to change and he had the power to do just that. For her sake, he needed to give humanity a second chance. He sighed.

“Gerard!” he shouted suddenly, making Raina jump and fall back. She looked up at him for a moment before continuing to play. In an instant, the Orangutan was at the door, trying his best not to look like he was just woken up or something of the sort. “Watch Raina. I have business to attend to.” He commanded, shoving the bear in the other’s hands. “I’ll be right back dear, be good.”

“Bye Dada!” he heard the girl shout after him as he marched out of the room, heading back towards the main hall. He hardly paid any mind to what he was doing, far too focused on what he was thinking. It seemed like quite the change to make, but he knew he could do it. Once the vision hit him there was nothing that could stop him from making it a reality. He wasn’t going to rest until everything was perfect. But where was he going to start?

When Scarlemagne reached the hall he eyed the few humans that had been positioned in the room, standing dutifully, waiting for a command. Now, how was he going to go about this? 

His thoughts were interrupted when one of the humans collapsed, breathing heavily on her hands and knees. His pheromones must have worn off. His hand went to the bottle in his pocket but stilled. After a moment he took his hand out of his pocket, shaking his head. Enslaving the humans was probably not the best idea. No, he wouldn't use his pheromones on her, not again. 

He sighed. He really didn’t like humans and the last thing he wanted was to mess up his image. If he just let this human go he would be considered weak. The mute gangs would question his leadership. But then again, did it matter? He knew he wasn’t weak and knew that if anything did happen because of it, he was perfectly capable of handling it. 

“You two!” he said, snapping at the humans closest to the collapsed woman. “Take her to the sleeping quarters to rest.” 

Immediately the two snapped to attention, helping the woman to her feet. He turned away from them. He would deal with that in the morning. He sat down at the piano once more, plinking out a slow tune, captured in thought.


	5. Some Time and Fun

It took some time before everyone adjusted to the sudden change. In only a matter of days the humans had been released from their enslavement. Most took the opportunity to leave, return to their old homes and their old lives. No one could blame them. But there was a few, only a handful, that decided to stay. Some said they saw the change that was coming and decided they wanted to be apart of it. Others thought they simply had no where else to go and didn't know what else to do. Many wondered what exactly Scarlemagne was up to, what he had planned. It seemed so clear to them before. They knew he wanted to build himself an empire and he would use his human nobles to do it. But now the humans were gone, so what was next? Was he still going to build that empire of his? If so, where did humans fit into it? Most still had a strong distaste for the creatures and simply hoped that they would not be involved.

Of course, no one really believed that. Not when Raina was still around.

Several of them figured that Scarlemagne would have gotten bored of her long ago. Instead, she stuck around. The toddler could be seen running through the halls and gardens, giggling away and playing as all children did. She was a spirited young girl, bright and happy. She was always attended by someone, though there were very few Scarlemagne trusted enough to watch her. Gerard, amazingly enough, was one of them, along with a human woman and another monkey. It was mostly just Gerard, though. And it wasn’t that often that they were needed, anyways. The girl was almost always by Scarlemagne’s side. If he was sat at his piano, so was Raina, watching intently. If he was walking the grounds, a habit he had quickly developed, so did Raina, holding his hand. He was the one to get her up in the mornings, eat meals with her, and put her down every night. The only time she wasn’t with him was when he ventured outside of palace grounds. There were plenty of matters to attend to, after all. The release of the humans had not gone over well with the mute gangs. Many had started doubting him and his vision and detested the very idea of potentially working with humans as opposed to ruling over them. Scarlemagne was not going to let that stand. So he went out and ... corrected them. He made his new vision known, a vision of a perfect empire, just as before, where everyone would live together peacefully, both humans and mutes alike. And at the center of that empire would be his city, a shining beacon of culture and art. His perfect golden city, Aurum. And if anyone spoke out, if anyone dared to challenge his plans or threaten his vision? They were dealt with. 

\---------------------------------------------

Scarlemagne was in a good mood that day. His grand city was coming along nicely and he had just managed to convince the umlaut snakes to join his kingdom. That was the last of the mute gangs in the area. There was really only a few small groups yet, but really, what did they matter in the grand scheme of things? He could always collect them later, or better yet, send his riders instead. He deserved a break, he thought. No, he should have a celebration! A grand party to match the greatness of his growing kingdom. The very idea made him giddy! He wondered if Raina would like the idea, if she would have fun.

She was in the garden when he found her. She liked the garden, liked all the flowers and picking vegetables and just sort of being amongst the plants. It did her good to have a space outside of the palace walls where she could run around, get some fresh air and play in the dirt a bit. As much as he disliked a mess, he couldn’t get upset with her when he saw that smile on her face, so happy and delighted with herself. 

She was climbing a tree or at least attempting to. She wasn’t very good at it, she was only three after all, so she wasn’t very high up, only on the bottom-most branches. Gerard was watching her intently from the ground. It seemed like the only time he wasn’t slacking off was when he was watching her. It was a bit irritatingq, could he really not be bothered to get any other work done, but Scarlemagne wasn’t about to complain. He was content to let the ape be lazy with almost anything as long as it wasn’t with Raina.

“Gerard!”

He jumped to attention when his name was called, half turning to the mandrill.

“You are dismissed. Go do … whatever it is you do.” He waved his hand dismissively. “I’ll call on you later if you're needed.”

“Alright.” Gerard said with his usual uncaring tone, sulking off. 

Scarlemagne paid him no mind. He walked towards the tree instead, peering into the leaves. A little smiling face looked back.

“Papa!” She cried, jumping off her branch. He caught her easily, giving her a good squeeze, making her giggle. “Do we get to play now?”

“Yes, I’m done working. What did you want to do?”

She hummed a little aimless tune, looking around the garden thoughtfully. 

“Can we play the piano?” She asked, looked up at him, beaming with excitement. He smiled back.

“Of course, darling! That sounds like a lovely idea!” He nodded, starting on his walk to the main hall. Raina gave another one of her giggles, the sound of joy that only a child could make, and bounced in his arms. He chuckled at her actions. Ah, the boundless energy of a child. 

“I have good news, too!” Immediately her eyes were back on him, curious as ever. “I’m going to throw a party! Doesn’t that sound like fun?”

She gave a serious little nod.

“What are parties like?”

“They are a grand time! There’s dancing and music and everyone is laughing! You could play with everyone there, I’m sure they wouldn’t mind.”

Raina’s eyes got big, her smile returning to her face.

“That sounds like fun! Can I wear my poofy dress?”

“Of course, if you want! You can dress up as much as you want for a party.”

They entered the main hallway and Scarlemagne sat the girl down on the piano bench before sitting himself. He started playing the first piece that came to him. It wasn’t very complicated, not something he would play in front of others to impress them. But It had a beautiful melody, one that floated in one’s ears and stuck in your head. It was one of Raina’s favorites. She hummed along while he played, only a little off, watching his every move intently. 

The song ended, the last notes fading in the air as silence settled over the hall. It was unusual. Scarlemagne would normally go from one song to the next, but he had paused. Raina looked up at him curiously, saw that he was deep in thought. She tilted her head to the side, wondering what he was thinking. It was usually something pretty good.

“Do you think you’d like to learn to play?” He finally said, smiling as the girl brightened. She had grown quite fascinated with music, was always singing or pretending to play an instrument.

“Really? Yes please!”

He chuckled.


	6. Getting Ready for a Party

“So which one is it?”

The little girl didn’t respond to the question, just kept staring at her options, bouncing slightly on the tips of her toes as she thought. Scarlemagne sat on the floor behind her, waiting patiently. He found it amusing, how carefully the toddler was debating her choice of dress for the night. There was her so called “poofy” dress, a pale blue one with with white trim and a heavily layered skirt that caused it to poof out quite a bit and short sleeves. But there was also a rather nice red dress. It was simpler with a shorter skirt and no sleeves with a softer fabric. Both were very nice dresses and Scarlemagne knew the girl would look fantastic in either of them, she just had to pick which she was going to go with.

“I think … This one!” She finally said, snatching the red one out of the closet. She showed it to the mandrill for approval, a pleased smile on her face. He nodded.

“Wonderful choice, dear!” he praised, taking the dress from her. He helped her get dressed. She was still only three, after all, and though she was learning how to do things for herself she needed a helping hand here and there. 

Once that was done Raina hopped over to her vanity, grabbing for her hairbrush. He let her attempt to brush her hair for a bit but she couldn’t quite manage to get out any of the knots. When she finished, she turned to Scarlemagne with a bright smile.

“Ta-da!” She squealed, showing off her mass of hair that wasn’t in the slightest bit combed. He chuckled.

“Wonderful job, angel. Do I get a turn?” 

She nodded eagerly and handed him the brush, turning back around to sit properly in her chair.

Scarlemagne had gotten rather good at handling her hair. As she grew her hair had grown thick and curly and unmanageable. It was a struggle to brush through and knotted constantly. Thankfully, he had help learning how to take care of her hair properly.

There was that woman, the first one to be freed from his control just a few years ago. He had spoken to her the morning after she collapsed. Her name was Amber. He explained to her, the best he could, the situation he had found himself in. He explained his new vision for his empire and gave her a choice. She could stay and make a new place for humans in his kingdom or leave and survive out there on her own.

She immediately left. 

He thought that was it, he would never see her again and she would be lost in the faces of the humans who had served him. 

Until a week or so later. There weren’t any humans left in the palace. Given the chance, they had all left. He couldn’t blame them, not really, but for some reason it still felt like a slap to his face. It seemed to just prove a point that had been brewing in his mind. If given the choice, no one would choose to stick with him. 

He was at the piano when he was so rudely interrupted by a shout.

“Scarlemagne!”

The music halted with a bang of the keys.

“Who dares interrupt me?” He howled, turning around to glare at the intruder. He was shocked to find the human stomping her way through the crowd but his glare didn’t soften any.

“What exactly do you think you’re doing?” She demanded, stopping only once she had reached the steps up to the piano, glaring back just as harsh. It wasn’t nearly as intimidating but he could appreciate the attempt.

He scowled.

“I was playing the piano before you so rudely barged in. Now what do you want? I thought you said, and I quote, ‘I want nothing to do with you or your pathetic excuse of a kingdom.’” 

“Trust me, I’m disgusted to be back, but I’m not gonna let people suffer because you’re too much of an idiot.”

“I beg your pardon?!” He was quickly losing his composure around this horrible woman. No one had dared to speak to him like this in years and everything inside him screamed to punish her. He was already planning just how he would destroy her and make her suffer for such insolence. 

She huffed and crossed her arms, looking incredibly irritated.

“You have a baby, a human baby, you barely know how to take care of. And you send away all other humans? Are you daft? How exactly do you plan on caring for her?”

There was a pause as Scarlemagne went ice cold. He clasped his hands behind his back, expression stoney and emotionless. The mutes that had been standing around murmured between each other, shooting the woman glances that said she was as good as dead. 

“I am more than capable of caring for my own daughter.” His voice was like ice down the spines of everyone who heard it, and yet, despite everything, the woman did not back down. 

“Right, I’m sure you know exactly how humans develop then. Or when the different milestones are. Or how to take care of her when she’s a teenager. Or-”

“Enough.” It wasn’t a shout, not necessarily, but his voice boomed through the room. She listened, silent as she waited.

The air hummed with the tense silence. No one dared make a sound, dare not even breathe too loudly. 

Finally, what felt like hours later, Scarlemagne stepped down from his pedestal, motioning for Amber to follow. He didn’t turn to see if she was following, walking further into his palace. He didn’t really need to. He could hear the footsteps following after a slight pause, echoing in the silence.

He didn’t acknowledge her existence until they reached his office, when he opened the door and motioned for her to enter. She hesitated, thinking it over. It didn’t surprise him. She didn’t seem like a fool, to just wander into a room alone with someone she perceived as a threat. But she came back for a reason and he was sure that same reason would lead her to listening to him.

She stepped forward through the doorway and he followed, closing the door behind him with a click. 

He marched past ever so slowly, hands clasped behind his back. He stopped behind his desk but refused to sit down, instead staring ahead, past the woman who watched him closely. The silence stretched on as he thought, a cloudy look taking over his face, growing more intense as time passed until he was scowling once more, though not at Amber this time. 

“You’re right.” He finally said, spitting it out like the words tasted foul in his mouth. His eyes met hers. “As horrid as your approach was, and trust me,” His glare turned cold once more, his voice dark and menacing with a deep growl to it. “If you ever speak like that to me again, I will personally see to it that your next breath is your last.” After his threat was uttered, all the venom left his voice and his face softened as he sighed. “But you’re still right. I need your help.”

Amber tried not to look to smug about it. She had no reason to believe he would actually kill her, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t find some way to torture her. Still, he was clearly trying to change for whatever reason and she wanted to give that girl the best chance possible. Heaven knows how she would turn out with someone like Scarlemagne being her sole carer.

So, Amber became a fixture in the palace. She helped care for Raina whenever Scarlemagne needed the help. When she wasn’t doing that, she was in the gardens, tending to the flowers or growing some vegetables. And as much as he despised her, Scarlemagne was thankful she had returned because that led way for other humans to return.

And he was able to sit here now, properly brushing through her hair and even able to tie it back into a sort of ponytail. Of course, her hair was far too thick and curly and just ended up looking like a puff ball on her head. It was absolutely adorable. Of course, everything about her was adorable.

“There you go, dear. Does that look good to you?”

She stood on her chair, leaning on her vanity to look intently into the mirror, turning her head this way and that. She gave a nod of satisfaction.

“Yep! Thanks Papa!”

She turned back to smile at Scarlemagne, hoping up into his arms. He easily caught her, chuckling.

“Well then, if you’re ready, we have a party to attend.”

“Yay! Party!” She cheered, bouncing with excitement. He smiled softly, giving her a peck on the forehead before leaving the room. Truth be told, he didn’t care one way or another how the party went. As long as his Raina had fun the night would be truly spectacular.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I intend to add another character into the mix? No. Did I do it anyways? Yeah. This chapter really got away from me. Stay tuned for next time when I actually right about the party. 
> 
> Do I have any idea what's going to happen? Absolutely not.


End file.
